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Astronomy and Astrology

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae, star clusters and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth. Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world.

Connected Sites

Antequera Dolmens Site: Dolmen of Viera "Like most Iberian tombs, it is oriented slightly south of east (96°), situated precisely so that at the summer solstices the sunlight at daybreak illuminates the burial chamber" (Wiki)

Brú na Bóinne: A large phallic stone was found in the outskirts of the Great Mound in Knowth. One of the theories suggests that it was used to follow the movements of Venus

Kaesong: The monuments inscribed also include an astronomical and meteorological observatory

Koguryo Tombs: There are examples of Goguryeo tombs in which constellations were drawn on tomb ceiling murals. "The wall paintings document the history, religious beliefs, and customs of the contemporary people, as well as science and culture. They show costumes, arms, musical instruments, dance, astronomy, etc." - AB Document

Mount Etna: "The nominated property includes very little infrastructure: ........ and an observatory. Funding has been secured for a complete overhaul of the observatory which is scheduled to start in 2013" IUCN eval

Pienza: Piccolomini Palace: Allesandro Piccolomini was a 16th century scholar and astronomer, who wrote The treatises Sfera del mondo e Delle stelle fisse (The sphere of the world and The fixed stars) (1540), in which he adhered to Ptolemaic theories.

Poverty Point: The archaeologist Professor William Haag, who excavated at the site during the 1970s, interpreted this post as having astronomical significance in being aligned to the solstices. (wiki)

Pyramids (Memphis): The three main Giza pyramids are orientated to the cardinal directions with extraordinary precision. For such huge monuments, this could only have been achieved by astronomical observation

Selimiye Mosque: The Muvakkithane (clock house) is located in the northeast
corner room ... From here the Muvakkit (timekeepers)
prepared the annual calendar and the Ramadan
timetable. They also gave basic astronomy lessons when
required. (AB)

Vatican City: The Vatican Observatory is one of the oldest astronomical institutes in the world. In fact, three early observatories were founded by the Papacy: the Observatory of the Roman College (1774-1878), the Observatory of the Capitol (1827-1870), and the Specula Vaticana (1789-1821).

Yin Xu: Oracle bone inscriptions reveal that the Shang could already record solar and lunar eclipses and star configurations accurately. They also gained a comparatively early understanding of supernova and other astronomical phenomena. (nom file)